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| Directed by David Dobkin Written by Nick Schenk, David Dobkin, and Bill Dubuque |
Alo Party Peoples.
We made it. It was a long, slow, tedious September, but we've finally reached prestige season. The kids are back in school, the leaves are falling, the weather is getting colder, and theaters are now being graced with serious contemporary dramas, lower scale genre material, some family movies on lucrative holiday weekends, and in general productions hoping to snag an Academy Award.
The Judge is a courtroom drama Robert Downey Jr as one Hank Palmer, a big city defense attorney known for getting guilty clients off the hook. One day, during a trial, he receives a phone call informing him that his mother has died, and heads to the funeral in a small town in the Indiana backcountry, one that he describes as a "Bible Belt backwater". There he sees his father, the judge of the title, and discovers that he isn't well thought of there. After a ruling, his father is implicated in a murder trial when a man he sentenced some years ago is found dead in a ditch. Hank decides, out of the goodness of his heart, to help him by defending him in court.
The cast is damn good. Downey is damn good in this, presenting a man that has definitely drifted from his roots, and a good chunk of the drama comes from just how much he's changed and how much the town hasn't. Robert Duvall as the judge of the title is good, Vera Farigma as his old flame is good, I just wish there was a script there that was worthy of the caliber of the performances.
Not that I think The Judge is a bad movie, it's not. It's well shot, really well acted, there aren't any plot holes to discuss, but it's entirely relying on pathos and there isn't much in the way of a message it wishes to impart, or themes to explore, it's like air, I guess. I don't know why, but stuff like this tends to be difficult for me to talk about.
The Judge isn't a movie that will change anyone's life, but it's a damn good one, and when it ends up being circulated on cable, it will make fine Saturday afternoon background noise.
Have a nice day.
Greg.B
The cast is damn good. Downey is damn good in this, presenting a man that has definitely drifted from his roots, and a good chunk of the drama comes from just how much he's changed and how much the town hasn't. Robert Duvall as the judge of the title is good, Vera Farigma as his old flame is good, I just wish there was a script there that was worthy of the caliber of the performances.
Not that I think The Judge is a bad movie, it's not. It's well shot, really well acted, there aren't any plot holes to discuss, but it's entirely relying on pathos and there isn't much in the way of a message it wishes to impart, or themes to explore, it's like air, I guess. I don't know why, but stuff like this tends to be difficult for me to talk about.
The Judge isn't a movie that will change anyone's life, but it's a damn good one, and when it ends up being circulated on cable, it will make fine Saturday afternoon background noise.
Have a nice day.
Greg.B
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